Conveyer



Aug. 10, 1954 Filed Feb. 26. 1951 A. L. SCHLESINGER CONVEYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Alfred L. Sch/es/hger INVENTOR.

Many 3% A 1954 A. SCHLESINGER 2,685,957

CONVEYER Filed Feb. 26, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig-2 Ill sch/es/n r IN V EN 1 0R.

" Alfred L.

Patented Aug. 10, 1954 ,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in conveyors, and more particularly pertains to a conveyor of a type especially well adapted for elevating building materials during building construction.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide means of an exceptionally portable nature for elevating building materials to their point of use during the construction of a building, and which means may be readily adjusted for the increasing height of the building as the construction of the same progresses.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a machine of this character which will require no special terrain or foundation for its installation, and which is readily adaptable to accommodate itself to the spacing of its base from the building and the slope of the ground upon which the same is positioned.

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a machine of this character which will be extremely light in weight, and readily discerptible so that the same may be easily transported between points of use. 7

Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide a machine of this character which will incorporate to a large extent equipment which is conventional in character and normally possessed by building contractors so as to lower the cost of the present invention, inasmuch as such equipment is capable of independent uses.

A meritorious feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a machine which incorporates conventional extensible ladder sections so as to lower the cost of the present invention, and to afford means whereby the machine may be readily adjusted for delivering building materials to different heights.

Another important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an endless conveyor of the type which is readily discerptible for reassembly in various lengths so as to accommodate for the adjustment of the extensible ladder sections.

Another important feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the ladder sections are rotatably mounted on the driving shaft of a conveyor so that the inclination of the ladder sections may be readily adjusted in accordance with the spacing of the lower end of the machine from the building.

Another important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of means for rotatably mounting the ladder sections on the driving shaft, which will afford a certain amount of lateral movement of the ladder sections so that the same may be arranged in a vertical plane although the surface upon which the machine rests may be inclined.

Still another important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of means for securing the ladder sections to the building under construction, particularly in that such means are adapted to take full advantage of the hollow rung construction of the ladder for attachment thereto.

A further important feature of the present invention resides in the provision of guide strips that are attached to the rungs of the ladder to prevent the buckets of the conveyor striking the rungs.

Yet another feature of the present invention resides in the provision of bearings on the side walls of the hopper through which the horizontal drive shaft of the conveyor is journaled, whereby the angular position of the hopper with respect to the base may be adjusted to compensafe for unevenness in the ground.

A still further important feature of the present invention resides in the entirely discerptible construction employed in the machine throughout, whereby the same may be easily and readily disassembled or reassembled as desired, and whereby the ladder may be readily placd in condition for its conventional use.

These, together with various ancillary objects and features of the invention which will become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the present invention, showing the same installed for use;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the present invention as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional detail view taken upon the plane of the section line 3--3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is another enlarged sectional detail view taken upon the plane of the section line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the means provided for tensioning the endless conveyor;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of one of the clamping brackets provided for securing the ladders to the side of a building;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the manner in which the buckets are detachably connected to the endless chain;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the lower portion of the machine, this View being taken upon the plane of the section line 3-8 of Figure 1;

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the plane of the section line 99 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a detail sectional view taken upon the plane of the section line ll0 of Figure 2;

Figures 11 and 12 are perspective views of the elements forming the means by which the lower ends of the ladder rails are rotatably mounted upon the horizontal shaft;

Figure 13 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the means provided for securing the guide strips to the ladder rungs; and

Figure 14 is an enlarged sectional detail View of the bearing means provided for connecting the hopper to the horizontal shaft, this view being taken upon the plane of the section line l4-l l of Figure 8.

Reference is now made more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, and in which the machine constituting the subject matter of the present invention is desig nated generally at If).

Upon a base I2 is mounted a prime mover such as the internal combustion engine designated at M, and a speed reducer H5. The output shaft of the prime mover I4 is operatively connected to the input shaft of the speed reducer l6 by means of suitable pulieys and drive belt designated generally at l8. Conventional clutch means, not shown, are provided for engaging and disengaging the driving connection between the prime mover l4 and the speed reducer IS, will be understood, it being noted that such clutch means are provided with a suitable control handle 26 as shown in Figure l.

Designated generally at 22 is a conventional extensible ladder including upper and lower sec tions 24 and 26, respectively, it being noted'tha the lower ladder section 26 includes brackets 23 slidably engaging the other section 24 so as to retain the ladder sections in parallelism, whifie the upper ladder section is provided with conventional hooks 36 for retaining the ladder sections in adjusted extended position.

While the ladder 22 may be of any suitable construction wherein the sections include side rails 32 connected by rungs 34, in the preferred construction the rails 32 and the rungs 34 are both of tubularmetallic construction in the interests of strength and lightness in weight.

The output shaft 36 of the speed reducer 56 projects horizontally in spaced relation above the base l2, and is supported adjacent its free end by means of a bearing construction designated generally at 38. The bearing construction 3t comprises a pair of upstanding plates 40 and 42 which are spaced by spacers 44; The plates 49 and 42 are suitably secured to the base l2 as by fastening means 45, and extend upwardly in spaced relation above the spacers 44. The por tions of the plates 49 and 42 projecting above the spacers 44 are provided with aligned openings through which the shaft36 rotatably extends. For a purpose that will be seen presently, the plate 42 is preferably of two-piece construction with the upper portion of the same being detachably secured to the plate 40 and the spacers 44 by fastening bolts 48.

Means is provided for pivotally supporting the justed.

ladder 22 upon the shaft 36 in such a manner that the ladder may be readily attached to or removed from the shaft 36. Inasmuch as identical means are provided for supporting each of the rails 32 of the lower ladder section upon the shaft 36, only one of such means will be described in detail. As best shown in Figures 10-l2, a bearing block 50 is provided which has an opening 52 therethrough in which the shaft 36 is journaled. A connecting member 54 is provided which has a bifurcated lower end 55 in which is received the reduced upper end 58 of the block 56, and the furcations of the member 54 and the reduced upper end 58 of the block 56 are provided with aligned openings 66 and 62, respectively, through which a pivot pin 64 extends to pivotally connect the block 50 and the connecting member 54, it being noted that the pin 64 is perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 36. The upper portion of the connecting member 54 is shaped so as to be slidably received within the open lower end of a ladder rail 32, and the ladder rail 32 is secured to the member 5t by means of a pin 66 which extends through suitable apertures 68 in the rail 32 and the member 54. It will of course be understood that if the present invention is to utilize a ladder construction which does not include hollow ladder rails, the member 54 may be suitably attached to the side of the lower end of the ladder rail by any convenient means. It will thus be seen that the ladder 22 is supported on the shaft 36 and may be swung about the same as a pivot so that the vertical inclination of the ladder 22 may be readily ad- Furthermore, by virtue of the pivotal connectionhetween the block 50 and the member 54, it will be appreciated that the ladder 22 is susceptible to a limited amount of angular movement about an axis perpendicular to the shaft 36.

It should be noted at this point that of the separate means provided for supporting each of the ladder rails, the block 50 of one of the same is received between the plates 43 and 42 of the bearing construction 38 so as to prevent movement thereof along the axis of the shaft 36, while the other block 55 is simply disposed on the shaft 36 intermediate the speed reducer and the hearing construction 38, it being apparent that the shaft 36 may be provided with adjustable collars for preventing axial movement thereof.

In order to properly space the ladder 22 from the building construction with whichthe invention is being used, and in order to prevent pivotal movement of the ladder 22 about either the shaft 36 or the pivot pin 64, means is provided on the ladder 22 for clamping the same to the building under construction, such as that indicated at 10 and shown in dotted outline. With attention directed particularly to Figures 1, 4 and 6, it will be seen that there'has been provided a pair of clamps indicated generally at 12. Each of the clamps 12 includes an elongated bar 14 from which depends a fixed jaw 16 and an adjustable jaw 18. The jaw 73 is provided with an aperture if) through which the bar 74 slidably extends, so that the adjustable jaw may be moved towards and away from the fixed'jaw 16, and the jaw I8 is secured in adjusted position by means of a bolt extending therethrough which may be extended through a selected aperture of a series of apertures 82 provided in the bar 74. In the preferred construction, the movable .or adjustable jaw 18 is provided with an adjustable clamping screw 64', wherebyiany suitable portion a:

the building may be securely engaged as indicated in Figure 1. The clamps 12 are connected to the ladder 22 by means of a rod 86 extended through one of the hollow ladder rungs 34 and links 88. One end of each of the links 88 is pivotally connected to the clamps 12 by means of a pivot bolt 60, While the other ends of the links are pivotally received on the opposite ends of the rod 86, the links 88 being retained upon the rod 86 by means of nuts 92 threaded upon the opposite ends of the rod 66. It will be evident that the rod 86 may be extended through any one of the rungs 34 desired, so as to allow for major adjustments in the vertical height of the clamps 12, while the pivotal movement of the links 86 afford minor adjustments in the vertical height of the clamps 12 so that the clamps I2 may be disposed at any vertical height desired.

A pair of collars or sleeves 94 are slidably positioned on the ladder rails adjacent the upper end of the upper ladder section, such sleeves 04 being provided with inverted U-shaped extensions 96 at their upper ends, and through the web portions of the U-shaped extensions 96 are threaded adjusting screws 93 which are adapted to bear upon the upper ends of the ladder rails so that the vertical position of the sleeves may be readily adjusted. The adjacent faces of the sleeves 04 are provided with opposed hollow bosses I00 which receive the opposite ends of a shaft I02. It will be understood that the shaft I02 may be journaled in the bosses I00 if desired, however, in the preferred construction the shaft I02 is fixed in the bosses I00 by means of set screws I04. A sprocket I06 is journaled on the shaft I02 intermediate its ends and is retained against axial movement on the shaft I02 by means of adjustable collars I08.

A further sprocket I I0 is suitably keyed to an intermediate portion of the shaft 36, and an endless bucket-type conveyor is entrained over the sprockets I06 and H0, such conveyor being designated generally at H2.

The conveyor I I2 comprises an endless chain II4 entrained over the sprockets I06 and H0, which chain H4 is provided at spaced intervals with conveyor buckets II6 as will be readily seen upon inspection of the drawings.

Attention is invited to Figure '7 for a disclosure of the means by which the buckets II6 are secured to the chain. Each of the buckets I I 6 is provided with a pair of clips II8 which include offset portions I20. A link I22 of the chain H4 is provided with oppositely extending fingers I24 which are received between the offset portions I20 of the clips H8 and the side Wall of the bucket II6. In addition, the fingers I24 are provided with depressions I26 which receive corresponding depressed portions I28 in the offset portions I20 of the clips II8, so as to retain the clips in engagement with the chain. It will be understood, of course, that the clips II8 are formed of such a material having sufiicient resilience to permit the fingers I24 to be withdrawn from engagement with the clips I I8 so that the buckets may be detached from the chain.

In the preferred construction, not only are the buckets H6 detachable from the chain I I4, but in addition the chain I I4 is of such a construction that sections of the same may be removed so as to shorten the over-all length of the chain. Since readily discerptible chains are well known in the art, a detailed description of the same is not deemed necessary here, it being sufiicient to state that each of the links of the chain in- 6 clude'loops I30 which may be twisted from engagement with the adjacent links.

Means is provided to prevent the buckets II6 striking the rungs 34, which means includes a pair of guide strips I32 carried by the rungs 34 and disposed between the rungs and the travel path of the buckets II 6. The guide strips I32 are secured to the rungs 34 by means of spring clip constructions designated generally at I34. .Attention is directed to Figure 13 for a detail view illustrating one of such spring clip constructions, wherein it will be seen that a U-shaped bracket I36 is secured by any suitable means to one side of the guide strip I32, with the web portion of the bracket I36 being spaced from the strip I32. A generally C-shaped spring clip I36 is centrally secured to the bracket I36 as by a rivet or bolt I 40, the clip I38 having concaved inturned ends I42 for engaging the opposite sides of a ladder rung 34. Preferably, the strips I32 are provided in sections which may be individually attached and removed from a ladder 22 so as to compensate for the adjusted extensions of the ladder 22.

A hopper construction is provided for feeding material to the buckets II6, such construction being designated generally at I 44. Ihe hopper construction I44 includes a chute portion having a bottom wall I46 and inclined side walls I48, and the construction I44 further includes a portion through which the buckets II6 are adapted to travel. This latter mentioned portion is disposed below the shaft 36 and is provided with an arcuate bottom wall I50 substantially concentric to the shaft 36 and side walls I52. It will be appreciated upon inspection of Figure 9 that material placed in the chute portion of the hopper will travel downwardly from the bottom wall I46 to the bottom wall I 50 due to the inclinationof the bottom wall I46. It will also be apparent that the buckets I I6 will travel during their movement around the sprocket IIO closely adjacent the bottom wall I50 so as to become filled during their movement through the hopper. In order to prevent shovels or the like from striking the buckets I I 6, a guide plate I 54 is provided in the hopper construction, the lower edge of the guide plate I 54 being spaced above the bottom wall I50 so as to permit the movement of materials therebelow.

The hopper construction I44, like the ladder 22, is also pivotally connected to the shaft 36. The side walls I52 are cut away as at I56 to receive the shaft 36 therethrough. The side walls I52 are cut away as at I56 rather than being simply provided with openings therethrough in order to assure an easy means for separating the hopper construction from the shaft 36, as will be understood. A crescent-shaped member I58 (see Figure 14) is secured to the side walls I52 by means of fasteners I60, it being noted that the opening in the member I58 is in registry with the opening in the side wall I52 defined by the same being cut away as at I56. Bearings I62 are journaled on the shaft 36, and each of the bearings I62 are provided with enlarged, hollow axially extending portions I64 which embrace the crescent-shaped members I56, such extensions I 64 being provided with set screws securing the same to the members I58. As shown in Figure 1, the hopper construction I44 is provided with a plurality of legs I66 for supporting the same, it being seen that by virtue of the pivotal connection of the construction I44 to the shaft 7. 36,. the .same adapts itself t'o; unevenness .inrthe ground.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device. will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications .and changes will readily occur to those skilled illfthG art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the. exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

.Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

11. In a conveyor assembly for converting .a ladder having side .rails and rungs intoaa conveyor frame, a bucket guide. including a pair .of elongated .strips adapted to overlie the ladder rungs-and extend parallel to the ladder side rails, brackets on the undersurface of said strips spaced from one another a distance substantially equal to the distance between ladder rungs, spring clips secured to. said brackets and adapted to fri'c tionally embrace the ladder rungs detachably supporting thestrips thereon.

"2. A .conveyor for elevating building material comprising a base having a horizontal shaft mounted thereon, a ladder including side rails connected by rungs, means rotatably mounting the low-er ends of the rails on the shaft, a second shaftrotatably mounted at the upper ends of-th-e rails whereby a bucket conveyor may be entrained over the ladder by means of said shaft, an elongated guide strip extending betweenthe upper and lower endsof the ladder and overlying the rungs thereof to prevent the conveyor buckets from striking the ladder rungs and detachable means securing the strip to said rungs.

3. A conveyor for elevating building material comprising a base having a horizontal shaft mounted thereon, a ladder including side rails connected by rungs, meansurotatably mounting the lower ends ,of the rails on the shaft, .a second shaft rotatably mounted at the upper ends of the rails wherebya bucket conveyor may be entrained over the ladder by means of said shaft, an elongated guide strip extending between the upper and lower ends of the ladder and overlying the rungs thereof to :prevent the conveyor buckets from striking the ladder rungs and detachable means securing the strip to said rungs, said detachablemeans including brackets on the undersurface of said strip spaced from one another a :distance substantially equal to the diswhat is 8 tance between ladder rungs and spring clips .secured to said brackets frictionally embracing the ladder rungs..

4. In a conveyor assembly for converting a ladder havingv side rails and rungs into a con veyor frame, an endless chain having. buckets thereon, means entraining th endless .chain over the upperand lower ends of the ladder, a conveyor bucket guide including a .pair of. elongated strips overlying theiladder rungs throughout the length of the ladder and extendlnggparallel' to the. ladder side rails, one rung of said chain being. disposed between said guide strips. so that the buckets ride against the guide strips.

5-. A conveyor for elevating building material comprising ,a base .having a horizontal shaft mounted thereon, a ladder including side rails connected byrungs, means rotatably mounting the lower ends of the rails on the shaft, a second shaft rotatably mounted at the upper ends-of the rails whereby a bucket conveyor may be entrained over the ladder by means of said shaft, anelongated guide strip extending between the upper and lower ends of the ladder .and overlying the rungs thereof to prevent the conveyor buckets from striking the ladder rungs and detachable means securing the strip to said rungs, said entraining mean including a drive shaft, .a supporting base mounting said drive shaft, the lower end of said ladder being pivotally attached to said drive shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 18,006 Hall Mar. 24, 1931 463,178 Vanderburg Nov. 17, 1891 512,190 Graumlich Jan. 2, 1894 533,875 Emerson Feb. 12, 1895 762,488 Neubauer June 14, 1904 1,066,302 Miller July 1, 1913 1,150,699 Nicolaides Aug. 17, 1915 1,766,052 Bettin June 24, 19 30 1,820,609 Erikson Aug. 25, 1931 1,961,289 Gardner June 5, 1934 2,386,619 Long et al. -Oct. 9, 1945 2,485,413 Ross Oct. 18, 1949 2,493,333 Baehr Jan. 3, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country .Date

319,916 France Aug. 4, .1902 18,439 Great Britain Aug. 10,1909 

